Chanda Kochhar denies any knowledge of husband Deepak’s business dealings
05 Mar 2019
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Chanda Kochhar, former MD and CEO of ICICI Bank, has stuck to her earlier stand of distancing herself from husband Deepak Kochhar’s business dealings. In the third round of questioning by the Enforcement Directorate (ED) at its Mumbai office on Monday, she yet again denied having any knowledge of loans allegedly routed to her husband’s company NuPower Renewables in alleged dealings by Videocon chairman Venugopal Dhoot.
The ousted ICICI Bank CEO has maintained her statement during questioning by both the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) and the ministry of corporate affairs (MCA).
This is the third consecutive day that the Kochhars were summoned by the ED following raids on February 28.
Besides Chanda, the ED also called Nishant Kanodia, son-in-law of Essar Group promoter Ravi Ruia, for a second round of questioning on Monday.
Following the interrogation, Chanda left the ED office at 10 pm.
Nishant Kanodia was questioned from Sunday afternoon until 6 am on Monday. He was called again at 1 pm on Monday.
The Enforcement Directorate was looking at the source of the funding received by Deepak Kochhar from Kanodia’s Mauritius-based company,” a Moneycontrol report quoted a source close to development as saying.
In 2010, NuPower received Rs325 crore from Firstland Holdings, a Mauritius-based firm owned by Kanodia. The deal is under the scanner as ICICI Bank had granted loans to Essar Steel Minnesota LLC worth $530 million in 2010.
According to Moneycontrol, the ED questioned Deepak, Mahesh Pungalia and Dhoot in pairs to get a clear picture of the investments in NuPower Renewables by Videocon Group.
The ED searched the residences and offices of the Kochhars and Dhoot over the alleged quid pro quo arrangement over loans sanctioned to Videocon Group when Chanda was at the helm of ICICI Bank.
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